Peak Command · Guide · Anatomy
The anatomy of a decision
part by part.
What a traceable decision is made of: question, context, options, criterion, reason, ownership and review. Check your own decision part by part here.
Which part of your decision is still missing?
2 questions in the plan. First question: Which numbers were available, and how old were they?
Seven parts of a decision
Question, context, options, reason,
Which numbers were available, and how old were they?
Most decisions fail not on content but on form.
“We'll do more LinkedIn” is not a decision, it's an intention. A decision has a question, context with a source, options, a criterion, a reason, an owner and a review date. Decision memory in Peak Command makes these parts searchable later: past decisions, their reasons and what came of them.
From reading to doing
Your decision. Checked part by part.
The next decision.
2 questions selected
- Which numbers were available, and how old were they?
With source and date, e.g. “cost per lead, Peak Finance, as of 3 Nov”.
- What do you expect, within which range?
A range is more honest than a point: “€130 to €170”.
What makes a decision
traceable.
Whoever reads it in six months understands, without a conversation, what was decided, on which basis and how it was meant to be measured.
Which numbers were available, and how old were they?
With source and date, e.g. “cost per lead, Peak Finance, as of 3 Nov”.
Context with a sourceWhich numbers were there, from when, from which product?
ExpectationWhat should happen, within which range, by when?
Reason in one sentenceWhy this option and not the other?
The playbook
Sharpen a decision in three passes.
What you decide,
why, and by when.
Question → Reason → Review
- 01
Turn an intention into a decision.
Write down what concretely changes: amount, period, ownership. An intention without a size can be neither carried out nor reviewed.
Example · Nordwind Travel Goods (fictional)
“We move €4,000 a month from Google Ads to LinkedIn, from 1 Dec.”“We'll do more LinkedIn.” - 02
Criterion, expectation, stop rule.
Define what you measure, what you expect and when you change course early. Note the source of the starting number so the review compares the same number later.
Criterion and expectationCost per qualified lead today: €210.
Target: below €180 by 31 Jan. Stop: above €250 after 6 weeks. - 03
Review without justifying yourself.
On the review date, compare expectation and result. Note what you now see differently. In Peak Command, due reviews appear under Decisions; outcome and lesson stay searchable in memory.
On the review dateExpected: below €180. Actual: €192.
Partly met: note the reason, continue or change course.
Your quality check
Are all the parts there?
Tick what you have checked. Your selection stays in this view only.
0 of 4 points checked
What this article is based on.
Editorial guide with a fictional example and made-up numbers. Recording decisions to Peak Log, due reviews and searching decision memory exist in Peak Command today.
- Evidence pending
Editorial guide with fictional companies and numbers. No customer data, no measured values, no customer results.
Look at decision memory.
That's where you find past decisions with their reasons and outcomes.
Frequently asked questions
Why write assumptions down explicitly?
Because only then can you tell later whether the decision was wrong or an assumption did not hold.
What is the difference between a fact and an estimate?
A fact is measured, an estimate is a reasoned assumption. Both belong in the decision, but labelled separately.
How does Peak Command help?
Decision candidates name their sources, and recorded decisions stay searchable with their reasons in the decision memory.